Saturday, December 22, 2012

Wishing
you all a wonderful and Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!

Hot Berry Punch

This
Punch warms you up even on the coldest winter’s day and is a traditional drink
offered at the numerous "Christkindlmärkte" (Christmas markets) in
Vienna.

It really tastes, as I once read, like Christmas in a glass.People
get together at these Christkindlmaerkte at the evening and often there are live
concerts offering typical Austrian Christmas music.

The
whole atmosphere is very festive, especially at the smaller, not so crowded markets
and the smell of mulled wine, orange and berry punch and gingerbread fills the air.

The
little ones enjoy their children’s punch and gingerbread or Christmas cookies. Most of the Christmas tree decoration is painstaking hand made patisserie like this adorable Santa and the tiny angel made from meringue. Nearly too cute to eat,don't you think?

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

This chocolate mousse
is incredibly fast to prepare and tastes like heaven. It needs only 5 ingredients.

When we lived in
Switzerland, a Bernese friend generously shared this recipe with me.

By now, it has become an
all time favorite among our friends.It’s a great dessert for the holidays too, because it's festive and you
can make it a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator until serving.

You need:

150 g (about 5.2 ounces)Swiss Toblerone milk
chocolate

1 egg

1 spoonful of icing
sugar

2dl cream

Preparation:

-Break the chocolate
into small pieces and melt it in the microwave (about 1 ½ minutes)

-Whisk the icing sugar
with the egg until obtaining a creamy mixture.

Wait until chocolate
has cooled slightly, and then stir
in bit by bit the egg-icing sugar mixture.

-Add just atiny bit of salt and whip the cream to soft peaks.

-Gently stir in 1/3 of
the whipped cream and finally, very gently the remaining whipped cream.